Thanksgiving

Supermarket ads are starting to feature turkeys. Hostesses are counting plates and digging out family recipes. Before we go full tilt into the cranberry-pumpkin holiday frenzy, we need to stop and give thanks tomorrow to those who made it all possible--our veterans.

At 11 a.m. On Monday, November 11, Goochland American Legion Post 215 will hold its annual Veteran's Day observance at Goochland High School.  There will be music and flags and a speaker. The audience will be peppered with those who, as veritable youngsters, answered their country's call.

Perhaps next year, our soon to begin Marine junior ROTC will handle color guard duties. Happy 238th birthday Marines!

Not that long ago, it was the custom for everything to stop at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, when the guns in "the war to end all wars" fell silent, to remember the fallen.

After 95 years of many different wars, including the one against global evil that still rages, honoring those who serve is still appropriate.

Our World War I vets are all gone. The kids who left farm and factory to fight, and die, in places they hardly knew existed in World War II are leaving us at an alarming rate. The guys who "participated in the police action" in awful places like the frozen hell of the Chosin Reservoir aren't far behind. 

The Viet Nam era vets, whose treatment by the spoiled brat members of the anti-war movement when they returned home must never be repeated, are also getting a little long in the tooth, as are those who served in Desert Storm.

Recent returnees from Iraq and Afghanistan are taking their place in the long line of ordinary folks who put on the uniform to protect our way of life. They do not make the decisions about when and where to fight, that is left up to the politicians elected by a steadily shrinking number of citizens.

As you settle into the day's football after worshipping--or not--in the church of your choice, remember those who left the security of home to serve.

It's not hard to find a vet to thank. They come home and enrich their communities in ways large and small.